ROSEVILLE, Calif. (August 14, 2014) — You'd have to downshift considerably to say it's been anything but a memorable and fast-paced summer for Kaleb De Keyrel.

The racing De Keyrels of White Bear Lake have put a good deal of miles on their hauler so far this summer, motoring back and forth from coast to coast to pursue the family's two-wheeled dreams.

Son Kaleb has tested the tracks of places like Daytona Beach, Florida; Brainerd; Elkart Lake, Wisconsin and Monterey, California so far this racing season, and he's currently fifth in points in the AMA Pro SuperSport series.

De Keyrel is priming for his next challenge Aug. 10 at the storied Brickyard in Indianapolis. He will be tearing around the famed facility at more than 150 mph on his trusty Yamaha YZF-R6 600.

Graduating from high school and becoming street-legal are awaited events in any young person's life, and De Keyrel has done both this busy summer. His accelerated home studies garnered his high school diploma, and passing his driver's exam warranted some new (used) wheels.

"A van," De Keyrel said in the lunch room at Bob's Cycle in Roseville, where he works when not on the road. "I have a van so I can haul my bike around."

"Bike" in the De Keyrel world may mean his state-of-the-art Yamaha 600 or one of his dirt bikes or actual bicycles. The pedal bikes are used for training, and getting a face full of dirt on a motocross bike is something he's enjoyed since age 5.

"I grew up on dirt bikes,” he noted. “It's natural to me, and I still use it as cross training. A lot of road racers don't like it ... or get scared when the motorcycle starts to move around under them (like in motocross). (Motocross) helps me get used to it."
Two years younger, brother Mason raced at Road America in Elkart Lake, Wisconsin and Brainerd this summer, and youngest brother Levi, 4, recently got his first riding leathers.

Kaleb and Mason also got the chance to ride and train with heroes Roger Hayden and Jake Lewis between the Laguna Seca and Mid Ohio events at the spacious Hayden residence and training spread in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Before Laguna Seca, the De Keyrels visited a skate park in Venice Beach and did some work in the Red Bull training facility.

"We really wanted to go surfing, but the day before they said there were some seven- and eight-foot sharks in the area we were going to go ... so we decided against it," he said.

De Keyrel said three young racers like himself competed in the AMA Pro SuperSport Series.

His goal is relatively simple.

"I just want to be able to make a living doing what I love to do," he said.
The next step up would be to secure a factory ride and sponsorship.

"We thought we had a (factory) deal for this season," he said. "But at the last minute they decided to go with another rider."

That decision proved to be a miss-shift.

"I've been beating that guy (selected instead of him) all season," he concluded.